Did the Apostles Preach Acts 2:38?
by
Jason Dulle
JasonDulle@yahoo.com
Question:
I have question for you. I have noticed in the book of Acts that the message preached that caused men to cry out what must I do to be saved (Acts 2:37), was the Gospel and not the direct preaching of Acts 2:38. In fact, throughout the book of Acts the apostles preached this same general message, and never did they preach Acts 2:38! How should I read this? I know that a person must obey Acts 2:38 to be saved; but could it be that in our preaching of Acts 2:38 that some of us have forgotten to preach the Gospel?
Answer:
Your observations about the book of Acts are quite astute. The apostles did not preach Acts 2:38; rather they preached Jesus Christ. They preached that He was the Christ (Messiah), that He did signs and wonders which confirmed that He was God’s chosen One, that He suffered, died, and was buried, and that He rose again from the dead (I Corinthians 15:2-4). That is the gospel. Now when one believed, and was obedient to the gospel, they were baptized and received the Holy Ghost. It’s just that this was not the early church’s emphasis. They were trying to get people to put their faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Once this happened, the rest was easy. I think the reason why we have changed our focus so much in this country is because most people already believe that Jesus is the Messiah and that He died and rose again for our sins. What they do not know is how to be obedient to the gospel they already believe. How to be baptized or whether speaking in tongues is the initial sign of having received the Holy Ghost were not issues for the apostles. Those were givens.
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